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System plan critical to going organic

The director of a non-profit organization that offers organic certification says a system plan lays the foundation for going organic.

Chris Schreiner with Oregon Tilth tells Brownfield any farmer pursuing organic certification is required to provide a system plan, and that plan is crucial to the farm’s success.

“That plan describes your management activities from soup to nuts when it comes to producing an organic crop.”

The plan must include field maps, details on crop types, total acres, organic seed sources as well as pest and nutrient management.

Schreiner says another key component involves maintaining and enhancing natural resources and biodiversity.

“Essentially, each piece of the system plan speaks to the (USDA) standards and requirements in terms of what you need to do to have a crop that you can certify as organic.  So this plan describes all of that in a lot of detail, and it’s the basis under which we evaluate the farms we certify.”

Schreiner acknowledges record-keeping can be burdensome, but says the information is valuable and should be embraced by farmers.

Brownfield spoke to Schreiner at the 2016 Organic and Non-GMO Forum in Minneapolis Monday.